At Camden Haven, and tomorrow we're home!

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We reluctantly left Woolgoolga yesterday in the worst possible conditions - a dust storm, smoke from bushfires and very strong wind. We would have liked to have had a couple more nights there but it was too unpleasant.

We had a last look from the headland, a drive around Coffs and then visited Doug's sister Barbara at Macksville before turning off the highway and booking into the Big 4 caravan park at South West Rocks for the night.

This is a great park for children and was choc-a-block with holidaying families - they have so much entertainment and fun places for children there and to top it off, wallabies come into the park in the afternoon to eat the grass in the park. They were quite oblivious to all the people passing them, no doubt they've been doing it for a long time.

After yesterday's awful weather, today dawned bright and clear with blue skies and not a puff of wind. We drove to the beach at Trial Bay at the end of the SW Rocks beach and walked along the sand and paddled, it is obviously a favourite with families.

Tonight we are staying at Camden Haven south of Port Macquarie. Our caravan park is 100 metres from the beach, where the Camden Haven River runs to the sea. We walked along the beach and the breakwall when we arrived - it is a perfect afternoon for our last day of our holiday.

Today it is 21 weeks since we left home to begin our big trip around Australia. We figure we'll have done 21,600 kilometres, give or take a few, by the time we arrive home. Life on the road has been fabulous, the freedom, the people, the reminder of how few possessions one needs in this life.

It's been wonderful to see so much of our beautiful country. I never thought I’d end up loving the outback as I do, the red dirt, the hills, the gum trees, the colours, the isolation all has beauty and there’s no need to add how wonderful the beaches and coastal areas are. The best of all though has been the people we’ve met, from every walk of life, who, like us, have shed their excesses and have been enjoying the relaxing nomadic life. We are looking forward to seeing the family though - if we could package everyone up and bring them with us, life would be perfect!

So tomorrow it will be back to city life - to once more wear make-up and jewellery, smarter clothes and shoes - and perhaps soon begin planning our next trip away!

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Photos

SW Rocks beach
The town is in the background